In accordance with our mission to support and empower science fiction and fantasy writers, SFWA periodically reviews and adjusts the minimum payment rates for professional short fiction markets, known colloquially as the SFWA Pro Rate. On September 1st, 2019, the minimum payment rate for short fiction will rise from six cents per word to eight […]
Gregory Benford, science fiction author and astrophysicist, is the 2019 winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award. The award is bestowed for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space.
Welcome to the January edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA.
by Paul Jessup Believe it or not, I hammered out the first draft of this post on a typewriter. Gasp! Shock! Cue the fainting couch! How could I do such a thing? This day in age? Why that’s madness! And yet, I did it and I will probably continue to write just like this with […]
by Kevin L. O’Brien In this second part of my series on technology and worldbuilding (see Part One), I would like to examine mass production. This is the concept of manufacturing many copies of a product quickly and efficiently, rather than creating each copy by individual effort, as in craftwork. Mass production is in turn […]
by Luna Corbden
I’ve heard that insomnia is a common problem among writers. At least, it is for me.
I also frequently get stuck on “what happens next?” in my stories, which leads to me staring at the blank page, which leads to me opening Twitter, after which my writing session is shot. I might get stuck on that problem for weeks and weeks, my mind completely unwilling to focus on solving it when there’s nothing but a boring white page in my visual range.
What if there was a way to (partially) solve both problems at once?
by Matthew Reardon
The first thing we can hope is that there haven’t been criminal acts, sabotage or other, committed on the ISS. Because the relevant space law is a bit of a mess currently, and without any precedent, it could turn into a muddle that would hinder our expansion into space for a long time.
News from Odyssey Writing Workshop: Now in its 24th year, the Odyssey Writing Workshop is widely considered one of the top programs in the world for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Acclaimed authors, editors and agents serve as guest lecturers, and 59% of graduates have gone on to be professionally published. Among Odyssey’s graduates are New […]
Welcome to the December edition of the SFWA Market Report. Please note: Inclusion of any market in the report below does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA.
by Kevin L. O’Brien
Automation is defined as technology that performs work with little or no human assistance; automatic machines are known as automatons. It actually predates the Middle Ages, in that the Greeks knew about and used automated systems as early as 300 BC: examples include Hero of Alexandria’s automatic doors and fountain, and Ctesibius’s robot owl.
A science-fantasy-noir novel inspired by the Nebula-nominated “Tower of Mud and Straw.” Towers, politics, alternate worlds. Kirkus called it “mind-expanding” in a starred review; Daily Mail, “a towering achievement and a genre-busting tour de force.”
Harold R. Thompson’s first science fiction novel, Orphans of Sturnus, was released in 2024. He is also the author of many science fiction and fantasy short stories. He lives in Nova Scotia and, when not writing, works for Parks Canada.
